Caps Shutout the CAN’Tadiens… Again!

DC Sports Nexus ---- Saturday, February 4, 2012

Written By: Amanda Sansone, Caps B-Ball Contributor

For the second time in less than 3 weeks, the Caps flattened
the Habs in their own barn and, surprisingly, without the usual referee drama
that comes when playing in Quebec aka Diet France.
If we completely ignore that fact that our boys played against a team that is
14th in the division and would need to win 92.5% of their remaining
games (thank you, Locker) to even make the playoffs, this could be considered
an awesome game. However, the Caps only played about 30ish minutes of great
hockey, the rest of the time had the Canadiens beating themselves because they
are terrible. I mean really awful. And The Vokoun was Epic Awesome. Let’s break
it down, shall we?

Zdrastvyute, Ovi!

After 3 Ovechkinless games, we finally saw our favorite
Russian back on the ice. No points in this outing for Ovi, but he made his
presence known by pestering P.K. Subban as per usual. The most amusing/most
d-baggy moment of the game came when Canadien Josh Gorges did his best Sasha
Minor impersonation and somehow convinced Ovechkin to pass him the puck in the
middle of a net-crashing attempt. Very sneaky. This is why you can’t trust the
French.** With or without points, its nice to have a fiery Ovi back in the
lineup. He had some nice shot-attempts, so that was fun.

Proof that D2: The
Mighty Ducks is the GREATEST Film of All Time

DC got the offense going in the second half of the first
period when our All-Star Dennis Wideman got a real-deal, Russ Tyler knuckle
puck up high past the glove of Carey Price Alex Auld Peter Budaj
(apparently pronounced BOO-DIE). Wides’ laughter-filled reaction was priceless.
During his 1st period intermission interview, he said he thought it
was embarrassing. Not even, Dennis! Maybe it was a lucky blue-line slapper on
an awkwardly rolling puck, but it’s the 1st goal in the 1st
period on the road AND it winds up being a spectacular GWG. It’s his 10th
of season, making him the 8th Cap to hit double digit goals. Coach
Bombay would be so proud!

There was a Second
Period. Brouwer Got a Penalty Shot…

…but Budaj, who threw his stick at Brouwer on a breakaway
leading to the penalty shot, ultimately won the battle. 36 seconds later
Brouwer drew a penalty on Evil Villain Rene Bourque, but Caps couldn’t convert
on the PP. You’ll get ‘em next time Troy!

The rest of the period was a waste of time.

Bad Bears Budaj

6:11 into the 3rd, the Laich-Hendricks-Brouwer line struck again this week! Laich crashed the net and Budaj put a juicy
rebound right onto the stick of our hero, Matt Hendricks, who gave us the second
goal of the afternoon; marking his 3rd of the season.

4 minutes later, Good Sasha Great Sasha Grood Sasha
got a breakaway and started zipping up center ice with Kaberle hot on his tail…
so hot that he got called for hooking and…. Sasha got a penalty shot. This was the first time in franchise history that the Caps nabbed more than one penalty
shot in a single game. While the first PS attempt of the game didn’t work out so well, Semin made
sure this one would count with a slapshot at point-blank range. Even the most
unhinged, mentally unstable, daredevil goalie would not try to get in the way
of that thing. With that blast, the Caps downed the Habs 3-0 (again).

Joe B. Has ESPN or
Something

Before the first puck drop, Joe. B quipped “Tomas be nimble,
Tomas be quick, Tomas destroy the remaining shreds of Habs souls with a killer
shutout.” Or ya know, something to that effect...

The Vokoun made 30 saves and got his 3rd shutout
of the season. It was a nice, much-needed win on the road. Let’s see if we can
do the same thing at home tomorrow.

Game Notes

-Early in the first period, Dmitry Orlov took a serious
puck to the face. Fortunately, a broken nose is not enough to keep this kid out
of the game. He was back out a few shifts later. His face will be a nice shade of
purple tomorrow.

-Schultz actually pushed a guy. Improvement?

-Hershey Bear Keith Aucoin played his first game for the
Caps since 2010. He was a little shaky, but made an effort and shows a lot of
promise. Let’s see if he suits up for Boston.

-Rene Bourque is a _______. (I promised not to use foul
language, so you can fill it in yourself. Let’s just say our beloved Nicky is
still out with no set return date while this guy is getting to play major
minutes).

-Who did the casting for the John Carlson Hadeed commercial?

-ZOMG WHO IS TELLING THE CAPS NOT TO TAKE SHOTS?!?!?!
Only 23 shots tonight. This kind of play does not a Stanley Cup win. Sure, it’s
neat to have the best shooting percentage in the league… but obviously this
cannot be sustained. SHOOT THE FREAKIN’
PUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**According to the Habs site, Gorges is from British Columbia…
whatever he’s still a sneaky little mofo….

The Origins Of This Blog: Prior to this season I had only watched a handful of hockey games. I never really liked watching hockey and I pretty much hated the NHL. Coming in I knew the basics of the game from playing NHL '94 back in the day, but wasn't really aware of how the game really worked. I didn't know half the penalties, I didn't know that a few teams existed or didn't exist, and I was easily frustrated by many things that happened in the NHL. (Icing, Trapezoids, Biscuits, Twigs, Blue Jackets, Plus/Minus, Goons...AHHHH) However, when my beloved NBA was in danger of being locked out for an entire season, that was my cue to force myself to watch something that I previously semi-despised. That brings us to today. I am now a die hard Capitals fan...I now know a bit about hockey...but I still have a long way to go.